Allure Exclusive: Zoe Kravitz's Met Gala Makeup Look

Zoe Kravitz's one request about her makeup for the Met Gala tonight was something you don't hear very often: "I wanted to do red shadow," she told me over the phone on her way to the museum. "I've been wearing red eye shadow a lot lately. My hair is blonde right now, and I think the red just really works with it. Plus, my dress is a dark red—like an oxblood." Kravtiz's dress (if you can believe it) is actually from Topshop, a long, silk number that the actress created in collaboration with the brand. Other than the color scheme, Kravitz left the rest of the look up to her makeup artist Kara Yoshimoto Bua, who gave us a rundown of how she managed to make red shadow look truly sexy.

"I made sure the red wasn't too close to the lash line," said Yoshimoto Bua, who looked at photos of 1930s starlets, like Greta Garbo, for inspiration. "Of course, red was the one shade of shadow I didn't have, so I actually used a deep crimson lipstick, Chanel Rouge Allure Luminous Intense Lip Colour in Incandescente, and painted it on her lids. Then, I brushed taupe-y brown eye shadow along the top and bottom lashes and in the creases and traced a dark brown eyeliner (Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof Long-Lasting Eyeliner in Espresso) along just the outer corners to accentuate the natural feline shape of her eyes." That taupe shadow and brown eyeliner kept Kravitz's makeup looking sick—in a cool way, not a pinkeye sort of way. To balance out the intensity of the eyes, Yoshimoto Bua also made sure to keep Kravtiz's lipstick on the softer side, dabbing a dark cherry-brown shade (Chanel Rouge Allure Luminous Intense Lip Colour in Envoutante) in the center of her lips and topping it off with Chanel Glossimer in Crushed Cherry. "It creates almost like an ombré effect," she explained.

The other way Yoshimoto Bua ensured Kravitz's makeup stayed young and fresh was by leaving the actress's freckles completely uncovered. "I only applied foundation where needed and skipped blush," she said. "Then, I actually highlighted her cheeks with the Chanel Glossimer, so her skin looked really glow-y."

"I'm always excited about what Kara does," Kravitz told me before she got off the phone. "And I'm glad we ended up doing both an eye and a lip, because if you only do lipstick, it comes off easier, and then you're left with nothing on your face." Though it's not as if Kravitz will be too worried about her lipstick tonight: "I have a bunch of friends going, so I'm just really excited to hang out and dance."